rqlite supports loading a node directly from a SQLite dump file. This is a fast and efficient manner to initialize a system from an existing SQLite database, or to restore from an existing [node backup](https://github.com/rqlite/rqlite/blob/master/doc/BACKUPS.md). An example restore is shown below.
The following example shows a trivial database being generated by `sqlite3`, the SQLite file being backed up, converted to the corresponding list of SQL commands, and then loaded into a rqlite node listening on localhost. _Be sure to set the Content-type header as shown._
**Note that you must convert the backup file (in this example `restore.sqlite`) to the list of SQL commands**. You cannot restore using SQLite backup file.
The behavior of the restore operation when data already exists on the node is undefined. Also, please **note that SQLite dump files normally contain a command to disable Foreign Key constraints**. If you wish to re-enable Foreign Key constraints after the load operation completes, check out [this documentation](https://github.com/rqlite/rqlite/blob/master/doc/FOREIGN_KEY_CONSTRAINTS.md).